Harry may be left out of royal family gatherings after Prince Philip's funeral as he should be quarantining: Expert
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, will be attending his grandfather Prince Philip’s funeral on Saturday, April 17. But he might not be able to attend any other royal gatherings after the funeral. Harry's quarantine period might disqualify him from going to any royal gatherings over the next few days, an expert said.
Prince Harry is right now quarantining at his and Meghan’s official UK residence, Frogmore Cottage, where the Sussexes lived prior to their move to California. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral will be a lowkey affair.
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UK pandemic rules mandate that only 30 people can attend the somber ceremony, it is being speculated that the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, will be sitting alone during the service. As per a report, the queen won't be able to have anyone within six feet of her thanks to strict rules that state anyone attending a funeral must stay at least two meters away from others if they are not part of their household.
Victoria Murphy, a Town & Country Contributing Editor who has reported on the British royal family for several years and the author of ‘The Queen: A Life in Pictures’ joined the ‘Royally Obsessed’ podcast to weigh in on Harry’s predicament.
On the podcast, she said: "There has been speculation that they might get together before or after the funeral. But, of course, because of Covid they shouldn't really. Gatherings of that size are not allowed other than for a funeral. I think even outside you're still limited to two households and six people, unless it's for specific things."
She added, "Also you have this situation with Harry, where he is supposed to be quarantining other than when he's at the funeral. He has flown over here and he is allowed to, on compassionate grounds, attend the funeral service. But he is supposed to be quarantining outside of that. So he shouldn't be spending time with anyone."
"Certainly we're not going to see evidence of anything happening before or after because it shouldn't so we would presume it isn't,” she said. "Harry's got a 10-day quarantine period to go through, five days before and five days after. There were some suggestions that he could take a test and be relieved of that."
At Prince Philip’s funeral, no member of the royal family will wear military uniforms. The Queen reportedly made this decision in order to present a united family front. She decided that morning coats and black ties for the men, simple black outfits for the women will be the dress code for the funeral.
This decision may be because of both Prince Harry and Prince Andrew. The Duke of Sussex was forced to give up his honorary military titles after he quit royal duties and moved to the US in January 2020. So, he cannot wear a military uniform.
The Duke of York, on the other hand, reportedly demanded that he wear the Admiral’s uniform to the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral. Andrew, who stepped back from royal duties in 2019 over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was made an honorary Vice-Admiral in the Royal Navy in 2015. He was due to be promoted to become an Admiral in 2020 to mark his 60th birthday but chose to defer it until he resumed his official duties as a working member of the royal family.